A particle telescope system for nuclear reaction identification

A particle telescope system is described, consisting of a thin (28 μm) dE/dx and a thick (300 μm) E silicon detector operating in coincidence mode, with relatively high solid angle of acceptance and very low background characteristics. This apparatus is capable of determining both the energy and identity of incident charged particle species and therefore of identifying nuclear processes. Additional advantages of this system are that it is capable of operating in corrosive environments and of reducing the charged particle background to as low as one count per week. The system calibration was carried out for MeV energy protons, 4He and β particles. Nuclear reactions were produced through high energy (190 keV) deuterium ion implantation of metallic foils and thin films. The particle telescope system was employed to measure the energy and determine the species of charged particles produced by nuclear reactions occurring within the films and foils. (orig.)